Did DJ Burns play at Tennessee? Exploring the NC State forward's collegiate career

The NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team is ninth in the ACC standings at the time of this writing. With their 17-13 overall record (9-10 conf) and unranked status, the Wolfpack are likely among the last teams to make the field of 68 for this year's March Madness--if they even make the postseason to begin with.

But for all the struggles that the team has had all year, they do have one silver lining. Senior forward DJ Burns, who's currently the team's third-leading scorer, has tallied respectable numbers as a member of their frontcourt. But if his name sounds familiar somehow, here's why.

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Did DJ Burns play at Tennessee?

No, DJ Burns didn't see any minutes on the floor for the Tennessee Volunteers--even if he did stay a bit there. He came to Knoxville as a freshman, redshirting his 2018-2019 season before moving on to the Winthrop Eagles of the Big South conference the following year (via UTSports).

The only time that DJ Burns saw action on the floor was in a single exhibition game for the Vols on October 21, 2018 against the Tusculum Pioneers. He logged two points, two rebounds, and a block in the victory. Aside from that, he was indeed practicing and traveling with the team during that season.

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DJ Burns' move to Winthrop

The 6-foot-7, 274-pound man-mountain's move to Winthrop saw him get far more minutes than he got at Tennessee, and he made sure to take advantage of it. In three seasons for the Eagles, he was a veritable double-figure scorer as a solid, imposing presence in the paint.

Thereafter, DJ Burns moved on and finally joined the NC State Wolfpack. Currently a graduate student, Burns continued his great play in Raleigh and remains a consistent frontline scorer for the team. For the season, he's averaging 11.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on just under 50% FG shooting.

He had his best game of the season with a 27-point, 5-rebound, 4-assist performance against the no. 9-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Monday. Despite the loss, Burns was the consensus best player on the floor. The Blue Devils' leading scorer was senior guard Jeremy Roach, who chipped in with 21 points, while Kyle Filipowski only had 9 points.

NC State actually had an early lead over Duke, and kept the game close throughout much of the first half. That is, until HC Jon Scheyer's boys finally started hitting shots, blowing the game wide open in the second half and secured a 79-64 victory.